The Black Whisper
by trenzallure
Summary: Something had troubled Harry for twenty-one years and a sudden burst of longing sends him back to where it all began.


Harry lay comfortably in his large, four-poster bed, one arm curled lovingly around his wife as she rested her head on his chest: her astonishingly red hair brushing against his skin with each breath of wind that swept through the open window. While Ginny slumbered, Harry could not.

It had been years since he had wandered down the corridor he used to dream of so often. Years since the door he had been so curious about had flung open, calling him towards an endeavour he wished had never happened. Yet here he was, thinking about it ferociously as he had not done for ages.

He had been pondering for months now ways of entering the department undetected. Since the first battle of the second war took place, not a day had flown by without a thought straying to the voices behind the veil. What he would give to hear them again. Just hear them. Or rather, hear one voice in particular whispering his name from beyond the interrupted silence.

_'The invisibility cloak would be useless'_, he thought. He had grown far too much since it was last used. He doubted whether it would enshroud him as smoothly as it used to. He supposed a few Confundus charms would be effective enough, at least buying him enough time to reach the chamber with the great, black archway before anyone realised he was missing from the Auror Office.

Harry rolled over, wrapping his free arm gently around Ginny's torso and as one they formed a tight embrace in which he always found to be soothing beyond anything else, even more so than a Calming Draught. He closed his bright, green eyes, kissed the spot of Ginny's forehead that had escaped the mess of flaming hair and tried to sleep, thoughts of once mysterious doors and whispering veils escaping him as his head swam with thoughts of what lay next to him.

Quite as suddenly as Harry had fallen asleep, he woke up. His arm was no longer around his wife, but around a pillow that had been caught up in a mess of bed covers. Upon closer observation, Ginny wasn't in the room, now vibrantly filling with sunlight from a gap in the lazily drawn curtains.

Harry sat up, brushed one hand over his mass of tangled, jet black hair in a very James-like fashion while clumsily retrieving his glasses from the bedside table with his other. Moments later Ginny returned, dressed in a vibrant yellow dressing gown that clashed noticeably with her hair and holding a tray carrying a glass of juice and a plate of deliciously smelling bacon and eggs.

'Morning,' she said cheerily, a smile stretching across her face at the sight of her awoken husband.

'Morning,' replied Harry through a stifled yawn. 'What time is it?'

'Almost seven', she yawned. 'I know, I know, but Lily was hungry so I went to make breakfast,' she added at the sight of Harry's alarmed face.

She placed the tray on her bedside cabinet and sat upright at Harry's side.

'So what happened in your dream?' asked Ginny as she brushed Harry's fringe out of his eyes.

'Dream?'

'Don't play that game with me. I heard you muttering in your sleep. It was about Sirius, wasn't it?'  
>Harry had not wished for this topic to be discussed. Not this soon. He cleared his feet from under the covers and placed them lightly on the floor.<p>

'It was about the veil. You know, in the Department of Mysteries? I could hear him speaking to me,' He spoke these last words with an air of longing, as if he wishing the dream to be true. Ginny wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head upon a kiss she planted on his shoulder.

'It was just a dream,' she sighed. 'Don't think on it.'

But how Harry was supposed to push it from his mind he didn't know, as he worked so close to the door that haunted him almost twenty-one years ago.

'Morning, Harry,' a witch in a long, velvet robe called to him as he passed through the Atrium.

'Morning, Parvati,' he replied monotonously.

His attention was elsewhere. The Ministry of Magic was, as usual, crowded to the point where navigating through its many halls was a tricky feat, though one that Harry had become used to ever since signing up to become an Auror.

There weren't many dark wizards as powerful or terrifying as Lord Voldemort around these days. It was Harry himself that had shown the wizarding community that even the greatest forces of evil can be stopped.

Harry turned into the elevator doors just as they were closing, and placed himself rather uncomfortably between a portly wizard reading _The Daily Prophet_ and a short witch carrying a basket much bigger than her head, containing what appeared to be overgrown, multicoloured chickens.

'Harry!' came a familiar voice from just behind his left ear. He turned around and saw the freckled face of his best friend, Ron Weasley, poking out from between two slightly taller wizards; an achievement to be congratulated as Ron had continued to grow even after school had ended.

'Ron! I didn't see you there.'

The elevator came to an abrupt halt and the golden grilles retracted into the walls. The same female voice that had once guided Harry and his friends towards a mission filled with turmoil spoke as clearly as if it were a person in the elevator with them.

'Level Six, Department of Magical Transportation, incorporating the Floo Network Authority, Broom Regulatory Control, Portkey Office, Apparition Test Centre and Magic Carpet Tour Bookings.'

Several witches and wizards clambered out of the lift, including the two very tall wizards on either side of Ron, leaving Harry able to back further into the elevator and speak to his best friend comfortably.

'How's Hermione? It's been at least a fortnight since we all got together.'

'Well, you know how it is. Rose and Hugo have been keeping us busy. Hermione's down in Muggle Relations at the moment. How are you and Ginny doing?'

Just as Harry was about to answer, a great thunderous crash could be heard just below them on the next floor. The elevator came to another sudden stop and Harry and Ron leapt through the gates before the female voice could begin her description of the floor.

There, in the middle of the hall of The Department of International Magical Cooperation stood a tall, black-robed wizard firing curses left, right and centre. Shots of red and green light flew around the room, bouncing off the floor and walls; smashing lamps; blasting piles of paper into a million pieces; firing drawers out of their cabinets and shattering windows. All around, witches and wizards ducked behind desks; rushed to safety into various rooms; some protecting themselves, and others, with counter-curses and Shield Charms.

'Mulberry! How did he get in here?' yelled Ron through the confusion. He and Harry rushed forwards, whipping their wands out at lightning speed.

'Expelliarmus!' shouted Harry.

Mulberry's wand shot from his hand and landed with a crunch twenty feet away.

'Incarcerous!' Ron bellowed, and the Dark wizard was instantly bound in tight ropes, causing him to fall to the ground, writhing.

Mulberry's high-pitched cackling drowned out the sound of clapping emanating from nearby onlookers. The duo walked up to the flailing man, tucking their wands back into their pockets.

'Foolish of you to come here, Mulberry. You must have known how this would end,' said Harry, rather obnoxiously, though the effect was intimidating. 'Take this scum to Azkaban,' he added to no one in particular, though moments later several Aurors arrived and carried Mulberry away, levitating him towards the elevators; his insane laughter following them.

The wizards and witches in the hall all arose from their hiding places and began to repair the damage Mulberry had inflicted. Harry and Ron turned to face each other, grinning.

'Another day in the Auror Office,' said Ron exasperatedly, yet still smiling. 'I'll see you later, Harry.'

'See you, Ron.'

'And don't forget we're picking you up for King's Cross next week!'

Harry smiled and waved Ron goodbye. The thought of two of his children, James and Lily, heading off to Hogwarts for another year reminded him of the spectacular entrance he and Ron had made to the school in their second year, in a flying Ford Anglia.

Harry had hoped that, when they had first started school, his children would carry on the legendary footprints he, Ron and Hermione had made in their years as students. Almost instantly after James had begun his first year, Harry's wish had come true.

James, though a troublemaker like his father and grandfather, had rescued several of his friends from an Acromantula after being tricked into following a Slytherin into the Forbidden Forest. The Slytherin, as Harry had expected, was none other than Scorpius Malfoy, who had doubled back to watch as his victims were led astray.  
>Leaving his reminiscing behind him, Harry made his way back to the elevators shortly after Ron departed, and after helping to clean up the mess caused by Mulberry's ruckus. He was sorely tempted to go downwards to the Department of Mysteries, though he knew he wouldn't be able to get past the first door without being heckled by at least one Ministry official and now was not the time to confund anyone.<p>

The next Tuesday arrived swiftly. After bidding James, Albus, and Rose their final farewells, the four adults, plus Lily and Hugo, vanished back through the barrier between platforms nine and ten and hurried on through the bustling crowd of King's Cross station. Once they were free, Ron let out a heavy sigh.

'Ah, finally. A few months of peace and quiet.'

'Ron!' cried Hermione, while Hugo and Harry sniggered.

'Oh, cheer up Lily. It's _really_ not that long before you'll get to go with them,'' said Ginny to her downtrodden daughter, 'Hugo isn't going either, and he's still happy.'

'That's because _he's_ a boy. He's simple,' retorted Lily.

The four parents laughed.

'Inherited your mother's spirit, I see,' chortled Ron, but Lily still looked miserable.

A stroke of inspiration struck Harry.

'Listen, Lily, why don't you come with me to the Ministry tomorrow? It's been a while since you've visit-'

'I don't think that's a good idea,' interrupted Ginny, 'Not after what happened last week!'

'She'll be fine! Security's tightened up a bit since then.'

'You'd think after all these years security would be as tight as it can be!'

'Don't worry, Ginny. I'll be there too,' chimed in Ron, 'She'll be safe with two of the best Aurors in the business by her side,' he added with an air of smugness.

'You haven't changed a bit since school, have you?' said Hermione, repressing a grin. 'I think it's a great idea though. Lily needs an adventure. I would suggest taking Hugo along too, but _he's_ still grounded after that incident with the cockroach cluster.'

Harry saw Lily and Hugo share a glance, in which they both smirked. Ginny seemed to notice this too.

'Oh, that cheered you up, didn't it? I'll have you know if _you_ ever put cockroach cluster in your brother's cereal-'

'She'll be her father's daughter,' chipped in Ron, with a proud look towards Harry.

He and Ron spent the rest of the walk back to the car entertaining Lily and Hugo with stories about the pranks they pulled at Hogwarts, while Ginny and Hermione chatted animatedly.

The next day brought with it an abundance of heavy raindrops that splattered the windows, shrouding the view outside. Harry and Lily arrived at the Ministry as warm as if they'd never left their beds, however, as they had travelled by Floo Powder, shooting into the Atrium in a flash of bright green flame.

Though she had visited her father's workplace several times before, the youngest Potter never stopped being amazed at the sights and sounds of the wizarding world. She gaped at the masses of witches and wizards cluttering the building; guffawed at the magical creatures such as goblins and house elves that were occasionally spotted wandering around amongst their human companions.

Harry waved, gestured, shook hands and muttered greetings all the way from the fireplaces to the elevators as Ministry Officials and acquaintances passed by, all bearing a look of admiration and pride at being on speaking terms with the most famous wizard of the age.

The grilles slid open and Lily entered the lift excitedly as Harry followed her, his hand gently guiding her inside. They took their place amidst the strangest of groups: a tall, dark wizard who appeared not to have been able to decide whether he wanted to dress as a wizard or a Muggle and thus sported a bowtie and jeans along with his robes; a short, plump witch enshrouded in a flurry of inter-departmental memos; two straight-faced wizards dressed in Puddlemere United Quidditch robes and a large man carrying a hamper filled with edible, flying Snitches.

The left, along with the witch surrounded by fluttering paper and hurried along the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. When they arrived at Harry's office, Ron was already waiting for them. Lily jumped into his outstretched arms to be spun around and placed back on the floor, slightly dizzy.

'Hi, Harry,' said Ron. 'Ready for your tour?' he added to Lily as she regained her footing.

'Listen, Ron, can it wait 'til after break? There's something I want to show her first.' said Harry.

'Sure thing. I'll just be over with Thomas.' replied Ron.

Harry appreciated Ron's lack of questioning as he took Lily's hand and led her back towards the elevators.

'Where are we going?' asked Lily.

'You'll see.' replied Harry, smiling.

The grilles closed and the elevator dropped below the view from the floor. A man in vivid green robes greeted them after they had stepped in. When the grilles opened once more, he gestured for them to leave before him, as it was the last floor on which they could get out. At least, the last floor on which they could get out without suspicion.

Harry aimed his wand at the man from under his cloak.

'_Confundo!'_ thought Harry.

The man lowered his arm, gazing at it as if wondering why it had been out in the first place, then clumsily exited the elevator, nudging the side on his way out. The grilles closed again and once more the lift descended.  
>Lily looked suspiciously at her father.<p>

'Department of Mysteries,' the woman's voice echoed through the silent, empty hallway.

Harry took Lily's hand and led her directly forwards, towards an all too familiar door. Lucky not to pass anyone else on the way, they reached the door. Harry turned to his daughter and crouched down beside her.

'Don't tell your mother about this, OK? It can be our little secret.'

'Okay…'

Harry pushed the door steadily open and pulled Lily gently inside, gripping her hand protectively. They were standing in a dark, circular room with doors surrounding them.

The second the door through which they entered closed, the wall began to turn. Harry was prepared. Acting quickly and taking a leaf from Hermione's book, he pointed his wand at the door directly ahead of him and said '_Flagrate_'.

A newly embedded 'X' on the door told Harry which way to go next. When the wall stopped moving, they walked through the flame-encrusted door into the Hall of Prophecies.

Harry had expected Unspeakables to be lurking around and the lack of them disturbed him. He made sure this didn't show on his face as he smoothly guided Lily towards a door just to their left. Unbeknownst to anyone, Harry had spent many of his days at the Ministry hiding under the invisibility cloak when he was younger. It reminded him of his time at Hogwards, strolling around under cover of darkness, finding secret passageways and hidden rooms.

Illegally, he had found out more about the Ministry building than most anyone and thus knew his way around the Department of Mysteries, though he had never set foot through the door he was about to enter, knowing what was behind it. Now, however, seemed like the right time. He could feel it.

Harry pushed the door softly open and walked inside; Lily still clutching his hand, followed. The vast, spacious room had not changed a bit since Harry had last entered. They climbed up the stone ledges onto the podium in the centre, which held a magnificent black archway. The closer they got, the more prominent the whispers became.

Lily grasped Harry's hand tighter and pulled herself closer to him, while her eyes never strayed from the thin, almost invisible veil between the archway.

'W-what is it?' she spoke softly.

'They say it's the path between the living and the dead. A gateway to the world of the deceased.' he replied.

A tiny gasp escaped Lily's lips as her eyes widened in shock and wonderment.

'This,' continued Harry, 'This is where Sirius died.'

'Oh...'

Lily had heard all about Sirius. Her desire to meet him was matched only by the sadness she felt at the fact that she never could.

'He passed through this archway when I was fifteen. Can you hear them? Can you hear the voices?'

Lily pulled her eyes away from the veil and gazed up at Harry, a mix of curiosity and scepticism cutting across her face. Harry tenderly let go of her hand and took a couple of steps further towards the veil.

'Sirius,' he whispered, staring fixatedly between the archway.

'Harry.' Harry jumped back from the veil. Had he really heard it? Had it really been him? Lily clasped her father's hand tightly once more.

'I heard him too!' she squeaked.

They both took a step back towards the archway.

'Harry!' came Sirius's whisper again, louder and more defined.

'He's calling to me! He wants me to find him!' cried Harry.

But as he stepped forward he felt a small tug on his left arm. He turned to see Lily, a single tear sliding down her ghostly pale face. He turned his head back to face the archway and Lily mimicked him.

'Ginny,' Sirius's voice faded out with this last word, swallowed by the sound of the other voices muttering inaudibly.

Harry's eyes wandered downwards in thought, until he caught his voice again.

'He didn't want me to join him,' said Harry with a step back down the ledge, 'He wanted me to go back.'

For a moment I thought you were going to go through!' whispered Lily.

They shared a glance, before Harry looked back to his Godfather's final resting place for the last time.

'For a moment, so did I.' responded Harry with a pang of familiarity.

They travelled back through the Department of Mysteries, a sad smile darkly illuminating their faces.

After twenty-one years, Harry finally felt closure.


End file.
